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From Field to Studio - Assateague Island

The lovely landscape of this National Park

One of the best things about living in northern Maryland is that I’m in horse country - and it’s only a 3-hour drive to the ocean where wild horses wander the beaches of Maryland. Many people are aware of Virginia’s Chincoteague ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry’s “Misty of Chincoteague”. These ponies live wild in the southern end of Assateague Island, and are managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Dept who round up the ponies each July for the Annual Pony Swim and auction off the foals.

Assateague Family

However, on the northern end of the island, in Maryland, there’s another herd of wild horses that are managed quite differently; their numbers are kept to a sustainable population through a birth control program. These are two entirely separate herds, kept apart by a fence at the MD/VA state line.

Maryland/Virginia State Line

And so I found myself, for the second year in a row, with the opportunity to attend a workshop sponsored by the Assateague Island Alliance and presented by the team of Karen McLain, a dedicated wild horse painter from Arizona, and sidekick wild horse photographer Meredith Hudes-Lowder, hailing from New York. Karen and Meredith have spent the past decade searching for wild horses across the country; Karen has accumulated a great deal of experience with painting very quickly in the field, while Meredith’s skills as a photographer with a very strong background in biology makes for a highly informative and engaging experience!

Samples of my sketches from the field

“From Field to Studio” was a 4-day workshop that took place within Assateague Island National Seashore, part of the National Parks Service. It included presentations on horse anatomy and behaviour, colour genetics, photography, and art supplies in the field – along with demonstrations of gesture drawing, quick studies and field sketches in various media; opportunities to photograph, sketch and paint wild horses; and concluding by putting it all together in the studio.

My workshop study in the studio - an 8" x 10" oil on canvas panel

I had met Karen and Meredith the previous year, as well as fellow student MaryBeth, returning for her fifth year in a row(!), so it was quite wonderful to reunite with old friends. A few other students joined us on days 2 and 3 – all were enthusiastic, lots of fun, and ready to work. The weather couldn’t have been better – cool and breezy enough to keep the biting insects away, with a good combination of both cloud and sun.

It was late October - relatively cool and insect-free - but there's always an itch 

There’s nothing better than spending some time with like-minded artists on the beach looking for ponies! We had an Over Sand Vehicle permit (OSV) which allowed us to drive along the shore right down to the Virginia state line, watching waves and seabirds, while scanning the dunes constantly for small bands of wild horses. 

I used the two ponies on the left for my study, above

We found several herds and took the opportunity to photograph and sketch them, always keeping at least 40 feet away, or the distance of a school bus. This is crucial for the horses, as it is for any wild animal – once they become conditioned to humans, it puts their lives and their freedom at risk.

Coco is the only buckskin mare in the Maryland herd

Mr. Frisky Hooves with Annie Laurie

Assateague Island Alliance has a fostering program, along with a horse ID app to identify each of the 75 individual horses that reside on the Maryland side of Assateague Island. Like a checklist for birders, I was excited to see some of the horses that I’ve never seen before, against the dunes with the ocean behind them, or splashing in the freshwater pools hidden in the scrub foliage behind the dunes. We even caught sight of two stallions testing each other with squeals and rituals that give one a glimpse into natural wild horse behavior.

Stallion "snaking" to herd his mares

Mr. Frisky Hooves

Besides wild ponies, Assateague Island, with ocean on one side and marsh on the other has its own unique magic. It's one of those places that steals a piece of you, so you always need to return.

Bald eagles are not uncommon on the island

Whitetail deer are plentiful

Sika Deer can also been found on Assateague

Wetlands and Waterfowl

So many paintings to do! I’m looking forward to the work, especially with the references from Assateague, Colorado and the Triple D workshop from last year in Montana. One of the best things about being an animal painter is being outdoors, with the animals... but the real challenge comes when you return to the studio to face the canvas and attempt to capture that experience in all its rich glory.

Ocean and Sandpipers

Loblolly pines of Assateague

And now, on to painting!

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